Indra’s business is divided into three areas: Information Technologies (IT), Simulation and Automatic Test Systems (SIM/ATS) and Avionics Electronics Equipment. Indra has completed projects in more than 50 countries spread over five continents, international activities that generate over one third of the company’s revenues. Business has grown above the average rate for IT companies in Spain and abroad, which is explained by Indra’s sound knowledge of the markets in which it operates and the quality of the company’s projects.

INDRA is a stakeholder in this project and the technologies which will be used in order to improve the performance of future tactical communications systems, and other embedded systems, particularly for avionics applications. The motivation and interest is based on the following arguments:

INDRA is a world leader provider of systems and embedded equipments for future avionics platforms, such as:
• High Throughput Data Links in which the processing is distributed between different elements.
• Software Architectures for distributed environments.

With High Performance Computing INDRA wants to investigate how to increase the performance of embedded and distributed systems to be applied in several fields, such as:

• Data security and crypto subsystems
• Software Defined Radio architectures
• Data processing and data fusion
• Data and Voice Communication Terminals

The Laboratory for Hardware-Software Prototypes & Solutions of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, UAB (http://cephis.uab.es) works on the research and development of new software and hardware codesign methodologies, based on the use of embedded platforms and virtual components (SW, MW & HW IP cores) to increment the productivity of the custom-designed application specific electronic systems. The system prototypes and solutions are developed by using most modern techniques, like the use of high level design languages (UML, XML, C++, C, Java, VHDL, SystemC) and new Codesign methods and tools for embedded platforms. This allows to achieve a great deal of flexibility and integration capacity using new devices (components and subsystems) facing heterogeneous MPSoC application environments.

The lab has a very strong determination in technology transference to the industry, which leads to the involvement in numerous projects on the embedded multimedia and wireless domain for private companies like Telefonica Soluciones, EPSON Electronics, Tecnimagen, Mitusbishi Electric, VCR, Servicios Informaticos Kifer, Ficosa, Inverline, ICAR, Varpe, Isoco, etc. Additionally, Cephis participates in EU 6th FP CRAFT project, with Visual Century, LCI, UniUlm, Isoco, Kepler, UIASI, that includes Semantic Search on MPEG4, databases, and Internet, that will drive us in an optimal scientific and technical position for this proposal. At UAB level we also dispose of a distributed computing infrastructure using the CONDOR framework. We are using it in order to evaluate the capability for service oriented applications like content delivery to mobile platforms.

Robotiker is a Spanish Technology Institution focused in ICTs (Information and Telecommunications Technologies) whose purpose is to contribute in society’s development by Technological Innovation. Robotiker is part of Tecnalia Technology Corporation and stands at the forefront of technological development and innovation. Robotiker provides R&D&I (Research and Development and Innovation) services developing new technological products able to be transferred to companies so that their competitiveness improves. The centre maintains the utmost commitment to quality, efficiency of service to customers and constant development and training of its almost 180 skilled professionals where 80% of which are engineers and physics scientist with MsC and PhD degrees. Robotiker has taken part in more than 60 international R&D projects, 8 of them as project leader.

Robotiker TELECOM unit possesses broad experience in areas such as software and reconfigurable hardware programming, hardware and software co-design and embedded systems among others. Robotiker uses a great variety of chipsets and development boards to develop its own designs and uses most of the programming languages available (VHDL, Verilog, C, C++, Java...). Nowadays those techniques are being applied for generating MPEG decoders, cryptography algorithms, communication systems following various standards (SDR – Software Defined Radio), error correcting codes and bridges between different interfaces. Those applications are only a small subset of Robotiker’s activity.